Multi sourced point accumulation interactive game

ABSTRACT

Gaming systems and methods for integrated computer-related and physical game play interactions between a game player, a physical game piece and an electronic device are defined. The physical game piece measures motion quantity and transmits motion data using a signal emitter when the signal emitter is actuated. The electronic device receives the transmitted signal, which a game application inputs along with user input. The game application uses the user input and the transmitted signal to tally game player score data in an accumulator.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a non-provisional patent application which claims prioritypursuant to 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/031,014, filed on Jul. 30, 2014, which is expressly incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to interactive games, and moreparticularly to game scenarios such as endless running, pointaccumulation based videogames used with mobile electronic devices andincluding further functions for multiple sources for point accumulation.For example, points may be earned from videogame play, mobile devicemovement, user interactions with a physical toy, friends, andpromotions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

During the past three decades, videogames have evolved tremendously andhave become widely played by people of all ages and abilities.Additionally, recent years have been marked by an explosion in the useof mobile electronic devices, such as smart phones, tablet computers,portable gaming devices and the like. Correspondingly, the popularity ofplaying videogames on mobile electronic devices has also exploded.

Also in recent years, several prior art videogames, known as endlessrunning games, have become extremely popular. In endless running games,a player begins the game with a certain amount of resources for playingthe game, and the game runs until the player exhausts all his or herresources; during the game, the player may increase resource levelsthrough various game play events. Traditionally, these increasedresources are earned from within the videogame, for example, byaccumulating a certain number of points resulting from videogame play.Thus, the increased resources have been accumulated fully within avirtual environment.

Over the past few decades, systems, devices and methods also have usedphysical activity measurements as input to computer-related systems,mainly to promote physical activity or particular products. U.S. Pat.No. 8,353,770 to Lu for “Mobile Social Fitness Networked Game” disclosesa mobile device where performance data is used for fitness,socialization and potential game playing. Patent application US2005/0227811 to Shum for “Game Pod” discloses a game pod attachable tofootwear that measures physical activity and uses the measurements asinput to a videogame. U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,622 to Shum for “InteractiveUse an Athletic Performance Monitoring and Reward Method, System andComputer Program Product” discloses a method for rewarding athleticperformance involving the use of a product worn by a person. U.S. Pat.No. 6,213,872 to Harada, et al. for “Pedometer with Game Mode” disclosesa pedometer with a game mode for a child.

Various sports balls, pucks and the like are known which may contain anelectromagnetic transmitter. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,038 toOrenstein et al. for “Apparatus for detecting moving ball” issued Nov.2, 1999 discloses an apparatus having a game ball containing atransmitter where antennas are provided for determining whether or notthe game ball has passed over a line. Orenstein et al. allows forlimited user interaction with illuminating sensors that increase theinteractive capabilities of the game. Similarly, the U.S. Pat. No.5,947,846 to Craig for “Hockey Goal—‘The Judge’” issued Sep. 7, 1999describes a hockey apparatus where sensors detect whether a puck haspassed over a housing line. Like Orenstein et al., the Craig patentallows for some user interaction by way of reaction to a puck crossingthe line as real-world physical play activities. U.S. Pat. No. 5,864,333to O'Heir for “Foot Force Actuated Computer Input Apparatus and Method”discloses using shoes, pads, or other similar device to generate controlsignals corresponding to movement. U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,675 toKashiwaguchi for “Data-Using Game System” discloses using operationaltraining data produced from a device such as an exercise machine asinput for a videogame that is part of the exercise machine.

U.S. Patent Application No. 2013/0017891 A1 to Romero, et al. for“Systems And Methods For Providing Virtual Incentives For Real-WorldActivities” published Jan. 17, 2013 discloses toys and physical playobjects such as sports balls or flying disks that include a sensor togenerate signals conveying information regarding the amount ofreal-world physical play activities performed with the associatedobject. Romero discloses that once the amount of play crosses athreshold level, its user may be presented with a code, from which theuser may redeem virtual benefits and incentives for use in virtual-worldvideogame environments such that real-world physical activity isencouraged through virtual space benefits.

Because the play of videogames has largely been fueled with energy, orpoints, earned or otherwise accumulated from within the virtualenvironment of the played game, the enjoyment of the game has beenlimited. It would be advantageous to enhance the enjoyment of videogamesby providing the endless running virtual videogame with enhancedalternate sources for accumulating the virtual resources used to powerthe game in the virtual environment, as well as by providing toys,sports balls, disks and other real-world physical play objects withreal-world feedback and indicators. Accordingly, it would be desirableto provide a mobile electronic device based endless running videogameapplication that accumulates points or other similar virtual energy usedto power the videogame from both the virtual environment and the realenvironment. This can be accomplished by producing activity related datafrom an external real environment or virtual environment source andcommunicating that activity related data to the virtual environment ofthe endless running game and using that activity related data to producethe points or virtual energy needed to fuel the endless running game.The inventions discussed in connection with the described embodimentsaddress these and other deficiencies of the prior art.

The features and advantages of the present inventions will be explainedin or apparent from the following description of the preferredembodiment considered together with the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present inventions address the deficiencies of the prior art bydefining an endless running videogame based game ecosystem for use on amobile electronic device that, in addition to generating points in atraditional manner within the virtual environment, captures play in thereal world to store and to use as points, or other virtual resources,within a virtual environment. For example, in the described embodiments,an endless running videogame running on a mobile electronic device thatallows a player to play continuously as long as the player earns pointsplaying the game is enhanced to allow the player to earn points bycreating input from real environment activities, such as by scanning acode on a physical object or by producing activity related data fromathletic activity. Thus, unlike the prior art, a virtual environmentbased endless running videogame is enhanced by allowing a player to earnand accumulate virtual environment power resources, such as points, notonly in the virtual environment, but also through real world activity.Embodiments include a gaming ecosystem consisting of a digital game andphysical toy band, where the “life” or “energy” of the user's digitalcharacter, or avatar, is “charged” through a digital translation of thephysical game play. The avatar/character in the digital world maycontinue to play digital games and progress accordingly. This type ofgame ecosystem is not known to exist in the prior art.

Described embodiments of the present inventions define a gamingecosystem including a videogame application running in a virtualenvironment on a mobile electronic device wherein the object is to earnand accumulate points by including further functions with multiplesources for point accumulation. Points power the game running in thevirtual environment. The physical toy may have a light that indicatesthe state of the toy by color and that provides toys, sports balls,disks and other real-world physical play objects with real-worldfeedback and indicators. Further points may be earned not only withinthe videogame, but also from activities in the real world, combined withactivities where points earned in the real world may be transferred tothe virtual environment for accumulation and use derived from a scoringalgorithm. In essence, the game is powered by play. The game may bedownloaded from places such as iTunes™ and Google™.

In described embodiments, a player may earn and accumulate points threemain ways: 1) by playing a videogame in a virtual environment on amobile electronic device; 2) by wearing gear, such as a wristband, andproducing activity based data, which gets converted to points andtransferred to the videogame; and 3) by using physical toys that may bescanned or that create points when used. Additionally, initial startingpoints may be obtained in a defined manner, for example, once thevideogame is started for the first time, the user may shake the mobileelectronic device as a 10-second timer runs to earn 100 points and tounlock the videogame.

When playing the videogame in the described embodiments, the player maycollect points by running within the game, by completing challenges, byovercoming obstacles and by defeating antagonistic characters. Whenwearing gear, such as a wristband, the point-earning activities mayinvolve activities using the gear without the videogame as well asactivities using the gear along with the videogame. For example, with awristband, a player may earn points by wearing the wristband and havingthe wristband track the player's physical play all day. A certain amountof time of activity may equal a certain number of points. A player mayalso get points by discovering new challenges for using the wristbandand new games to play with the wristband. A player may obtain bonuspoints by getting others involved in a multi-player game and more pointsfor winning. A player may obtain further points by syncing the wristbandwith the videogame application.

Described embodiments may include playing with physical toys within thegame ecosystem to earn points. In these embodiments, for example, aplayer may earn points by scanning a card with a code that comes with aphysical toy. A player may also earn points by playing with physicaltoys such as sports balls that are used to accumulate points when inuse, and that signal the player to transfer points from the physical toyto the virtual environment when the physical toy point storage is full.The physical toys, balls and the like may be repeatedly used to earnpoints multiple times. The physical toy includes a light or otherindicators that communicate the state of the toy by color, thusproviding toys, sports balls, disks and other real-world physical playobjects with real-world feedback and indicators. For example, a playermay press a button and the light may appear red to indicate that nopoints are available. The light may appear yellow to indicate that somepoints have accumulated but are not ready for transfer, and green mayindicate that the point storage is full and ready for transfer. Incertain embodiments, players may be rewarded by earning points forphysical toys previously purchased.

Various embodiments allow a player to earn points by providinginformation to prospective merchants and others willing to exchangepoints. This way, merchants may advertise their products within the gameecosystem. Additionally, players may access a website, both within thegame ecosystem and outside the game ecosystem, to make videogame relatedpurchases and perform other videogame related activities.

Moreover, within the game ecosystem, some embodiments have a store inthe virtual environment, where a player may spend accumulated points toturn points into power. A player may exchange points for such things asnew characters, character outfits, new character skins, theme relatedcontent such as for holidays and for big events, such as Christmas, theOlympics, etc., consumable power-ups, gadgets for use in the virtualenvironment, in-game companions, new game levels, accessories such asfunny helmets with antlers, special power gear, sports related items,pets, environments, etc. For example, a player accumulates a certainnumber of points through physical activity with one of the toys, such asone of the sports balls. The player will then have an option within thegame to spend these points towards a specific skill, accessory, level,and more to better his or her progress in the game.

Some embodiments will have a statistics page within the virtualenvironment. The statistics page may show information such as the amountof power stored, the number of points earned, an indication of how wella player plays, trophies, badges, etc. This information may also bestored in the Cloud or via some similar manner so that one player'sstatistics and information may be viewed and compared with otherplayers' information via the web if IDs are exchanged properly. A playermay create teams and play multi-player games within that player's gameecosystem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The inventions will now be more particularly described by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawings, the advantages of which maybe best understood with reference to the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a high-level diagram illustrating the overall functionalityof the multi-sourced point accumulation interactive game system and thedirectional communication between the real and the virtual environments.

FIG. 2 shows wristbands and physical toys that produce activity baseddata.

FIG. 3 shows players using the band and a sports product to createactivity based data and converting the activity based data intovideogame resources.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a wristband.

FIG. 5A shows a view of a sports ball that can store motion data.

FIG. 5B shows an exploded view of the sports ball shown in FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5C shows a view of a sports ball with a scannable code.

FIG. 6 shows a screen shot of a dashboard used for player interactionwith the virtual environment.

FIG. 7 shows an endless running videogame scenario with a heads updisplay.

FIG. 8 shows a player motivation loop.

FIG. 9 shows a player progression loop for a particular describedembodiment.

FIG. 10 shows a flow diagram for a videogame energy resource.

FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram for a videogame spark resource.

FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram for a videogame all-star resource.

FIG. 13 shows game play roller loops.

FIG. 14 shows the game play wireframes flowchart for a describedembodiment.

The present invention is further described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, which show preferred embodiments of the presentinvention. However, it should be noted that the invention as disclosedin the accompanying drawings is illustrated by way of example only. Thevarious elements and combinations of elements described below andillustrated in the drawings can be arranged and organized differently toresult in embodiments which are still within the spirit and scope of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A described embodiment is a game ecosystem with several components. Thegame ecosystem and its advantages may be understood by the followingdetailed description of various elements of the system taken inconjunction with the accompanying figures.

Embodiments include gaming systems and methods for integratedcomputer-related and physical game play interactions having a physicalgame piece and an electronic device. The physical game piece may be awristband or a sports ball or the like. The electronic device may be atablet computer or a smart phone or the like.

The physical game piece includes a motion detector to measure motionquantity and a signal emitter that communicates with the motion detectorand emits one or more signals where each signal relates to a measuredmotion quantity. For example, the signal emitter may consist of threeLEDs, one red, one yellow, and one green, where the LED lights red whenthe motion detector has not detected any motion, yellow when the motiondetector has detected 1 to 100 movements, and green when the motiondetector has detected more than 100 movements. An actuator, such as abutton, is coupled to the signal emitter to actuate the signal emitter.

The electronic device includes a receiver that receives the signalsemitted from the signal emitter, a user input interface, and a gameapplication. The game application may be an endless running game. Thegame application uses a score accumulator to tally various types ofplayer's scores. A first program in the game application receives inputfrom a user input interface and sends score data of the one or morescore types to the score accumulator for the score accumulator to tallybased on the pattern of user input and the score type. A second programmodule in the game application uses the receiver to input the signalsemitted from the signal emitter and then sends score data of the one ormore score types to the score accumulator for the score accumulator totally based on the pattern of the received signals and the score type.

The game application may include the first program module further havinga plurality of sequentially accessible gaming program modules such thata game player may accumulate a game score with respectively sequentiallevels of increasing difficulty.

A multiplier program module may be used to receive score data from thefirst program module and the second program module, multiply one or moreof the difficulty level and the score data by a predetermined multiplebased on the quantity and pattern of input from the first program moduleand the second program module. The multiplier program module may thencommunicate the resultant multiplication to the score accumulator. Infact, in some embodiments, the score accumulator communicates only withthe multiplier program module. In further embodiments, the receiver is acamera, and the second program module is configured to receive a scannedcode from the camera and to send a predetermined pattern of input to themultiplier program module.

In some embodiments where the receiver is a camera, the signal emitterconsists of one or more light-emitting diodes plus some type oftransmitter that transmits non-visible electronic signals. In someembodiments, the actuator is a button that a game player presses toactuate to cause the signal emitter to emit a signal. The one or moresignals emitted by the signal emitter each cover a range of measuredmotion quantity, and, in some embodiments, the signal emitter sets themeasured motion quantity to zero upon actuation when the measured motionquantity has reached a defined amount.

For some systems and methods described, a currency redemption programmodule can communicate with the score accumulator and the user inputinterface and receive input from the user input interface to allow theplayer to make purchases of virtual resources and tangible products andto direct the score accumulator to adjust the tallies of the one or moregame player scores of the one or more respective score types based onthe pattern of user input. In some instances, the currency redemptionprogram module requires the player to make a purchase when the one ormore of the tallies of the one or more game player scores of the one ormore respective score types reaches a predefined amount.

In some embodiments, a virtual character that is related to the physicalgame piece is used as a character in the game application. In this case,the first program module may be configured to accept user input definingthe physical game piece used, and the second program module may beconfigured to accept further input defining the physical game pieceused. The game application may be configured to use virtual energy topower the virtual character and to use an amount of virtual energydirectly related to the amount of accumulated score data of the one ormore score types.

In some systems and methods, a network with a network access interfacemay be configured to store player account information on a server and toallow access to the network from the web and from other smart devices toshow the player's game accomplishments and to compare the player's gameaccomplishments with game accomplishments of one or more other players.

A main element of the described game ecosystem involves playing thedigital game. The digital game may be a downloaded app installed oncompatible smart devices. The digital game may consist of severalelements, including: 1) a dashboard of an avatar's energy meter, chargedfrom a smart device or from physical product game play, and progressionstatus; 2) an endless running game where the avatar must progress withinthe game as far as possible; and 3) power-up options that may be chargedor allocated from an avatar's total energy.

The power-up options may include faster running, higher jumping, astronger avatar, etc. Game progression will be limited by the amount ofenergy stored in the game. A player's energy level decreases to a setlimit whenever the player's avatar hits an obstacle and/or runs out ofthe stored energy as reflected in the avatar's meter. The current runmay end when the player runs out of energy. However, at the end of eachrun, a player may choose to continue using in game currency orpower-ups. The game will end when a user runs out of energy and choosesto no longer prolong the run using currency or power-ups.

The app alone will allow a player to charge and increase the player'senergy level during play. However, when a player uses the physicalproducts, the player will charge the avatar's energy more quickly.Additionally, physical products in the ecosystem can unlock otherfeatures within the digital game, such as allowing accelerated access tomini-games.

As noted, using physical toy products and balls within the gameecosystem accelerates charging energy. For the wristband mentionedabove, a single player will charge an avatar's energy by playing gamesas directed from the app or from instructions, such as by engaging intimed physical play while wearing the wristband, by playing Nerf™ hoops,etc. In some embodiments, the wristband will display a player's energystatus via an LED when the player pushes a button on the band. Formulti-player games, each player with a wristband will have theiravatar's energy charged during game play.

Physical toy products may also include enabled, or connected, products,as well as powered products. Enabled, or connected, products do notinclude sensors and are used to connect the physical toy product to theapp by using the camera on the smart device to capture a two-dimensionalprinted, scannable code. This code will be deciphered to identify thespecific physical product and then to increase energy at a proper rate.In some embodiments, the app on the electronic device will providevisual and/or audio feedback during a scan. Additionally, promotionalbonus multipliers may be administered through the app during certaintime periods.

Powered products include sensors. During regular, intended use of apowered product, a sensor, such as a jiggle switch or the like, allowsremote accumulation of raw activity. In a described embodiment, thepowered product will contain a multicolor LED that will change color toindicate fullness level at certain thresholds, for examplered/yellow/green to represent lowest to highest level of collectedenergy respectively. Upon reaching the highest level, the poweredproduct LED may not change until prompted to transfer energy through thecamera on a smart device. The powered product and the app may use acommon protocol that may involve blinking the LED on and off tocommunicate that the highest level was reached, and to convert to theappropriate energy value. Other protocols may be used.

Communications with some physical toys during game play occurs betweenand among the physical toy, the app and the user. When a player uses theapp and wears the wristband, the wristband will communicate with thesmart device via Bluetooth™ or some similar protocol. The app willcommunicate with the player by suggesting different games to play whilewearing the wristband, such as missions and challenges. The app willprovide the challenges and/or missions to be played with the band. Forexample, a challenge could be a time challenge where the band wearerneeds to move a certain amount in a set period of time. Thiscommunication may also be used to synchronize multiple bands for amulti-player challenge. These challenges or missions may be added withfirmware updates.

The powered products communicate with the app by the app using thecamera to decipher the blinking LEDs on the powered product. Othercommunication methods are possible. For example, Zappar™ Zapcodes™ maybe used for image recognition to identify the powered product. Thenon-powered products will come with a scannable code or other image thatcan be scanned by the app to unlock a digital version or a fantasyversion of that product. The scannable code or other image may be on thepackage or on a printed sheet. The scannable code or image must only bescanned once and then discarded because the fantasy, or virtual, versionof the product will be permanently unlocked.

An example of a powered product includes a line of tech-enhanced toysthat allow the player to earn points through physical play and applythose points as currency for virtual upgrades in the electronic devicegame app. There is an electronic module added to the product with amotion sensor, single button and LED which changes color to tell theplayer if the toy is ‘Empty’, ‘Half-Full’, or ‘Full’.

The product starts ‘Empty’ and must be filled with points. Each producthas a set number of points it is worth when it is ‘Full’, i.e. 1000points. The number of points a product is worth in the game is relativeto the retail value of the toy, e.g., a $14.99 toy=1000 points, a $19.99toy=2000 points. These points can be added to the player's game app onlywhen the product is ‘Full’. The app uses the main camera of the mobiledevice to ‘scan’ the product when it is Full and add the points to avirtual bank within the game. These points may then be used to purchasevirtual items such as game levels, avatar upgrades or vanity items thatmay be applied to the avatar. After the points have been added to thegame, the toy is Empty again and may be refilled with points.

The game flow proceeds as follows: 1) the Player presses the singlebutton on the product and the LED flashes red, indicating the product isempty; 2) as the Player plays with the toy physically, the sensor countsthe number of times the sensor detects motion. The chip inside themodule uses an algorithm that translates the number of times the sensordetects motion to one of 3 states for the toy, Empty, Half-Full andFull; 3) if the player presses the button again during play, the LED mayflash yellow, indicating the toy is Half-Full; 4) if the player pressesthe button and the LED flashes green, this indicates that the toy isFull and ready to transfer the points to the app; 5) to transfer thepoints from the toy to the app, the player must activate the app and goto the menu item called ‘sync’; 6) the camera on the mobile device isready to gather the points; 7) the app tells the player to point thecamera at the toy and press and hold the button on their toy for 3seconds to start the transfer; 8) if the player presses and holds thebutton, the GREEN LED will flash with a pattern that identifies it tothe app as an energy-holding toy, the type of toy and the point value;9) this pattern repeats for 45 seconds and cannot be interrupted; 10) ifthe app sees the full pattern once, it alerts the player that pointshave been collected and will ignore any other flashes from the toy; 11)if the app does not see the full pattern, it does not collect thepoints; and 12) after 45 seconds, the toy returns to the Empty state andis ready to be filled again.

A player may achieve extended and accelerated energy progression fromcombined use of the various physical products using multipliers andmethods as described below. Energy may also be converted to power-upsand special items and also be used to unlock special features of the appor to allow special access to parts of the app.

In the described embodiments, all progression status information withinthe videogame may be stored in a user's account via various servers. Theapp and web dashboard will be able to display progression status of anyplayer who logs in. Friends will be able to see the status of eachother.

Also in the described embodiments, different types of currency may beused. One type of currency may be derived from the physical products andscoring algorithm as well as internally in the app. This type ofcurrency may only be converted to digital items such as power-ups,special items, upgrades, unlockable levels, etc. This type of currencymay never be converted to another currency. Another type of currency maybe derived from accomplishment and progression within the digital game.Other possible currency types may include 1) a one-time addedpredetermined amount of currency from scanning physical products and 2)currency acquired from converting energy stored in a physical toy orfrom converting a different type of currency.

The player will level up during game play. Leveling up will give theavatars more in-game abilities and better attributes, including thetotal number of energy cells. Energy cells are treated like in-gamebatteries for the total energy being stored. The HUD of the energy barwill display the additional cells that have been earned through gameplay. In a described embodiment, four additional cells besides thedefault cell may be used for a total of five cells.

In some embodiments, the physical band will also level up to evolvebased on the player's level. The band will also start with one cell andcan level up to a total of five cells. When the band is synced with theapp, the app will set the level of the band. Each time the band cellsare filled, the band may play a unique audio sound. The leveling up ofboth the user and the band may be tunable and updatable variables.

Accumulating energy points may depend on multiple factors, which the appmay calculate. Energy point accumulation may also use a system oftunable variables to create game balance between videogame and physicaltoy play that provides the greatest rewards to players. The app will besupported by backend servers that contain the different variables fortuning and balancing the accumulation of energy. The variables are alsoneeded for the addition of any new physical products that will beconnected to the app. Thus, the app could have several million playerscreating tons of data used to then tune and re-tune the game. The numberof players and hours spent playing will far outnumber the possible hoursof game play testing that could happen by the development and publishingtest teams.

FIG. 1 shows a high-level diagram illustrating the overall functionalityof the multi-sourced point accumulation interactive game system and thedirectional communication between the real and the virtual environments.The game system 10 centers around an electronic device 12, such as asmart phone or a tablet computer or other similar device, and avideogame app 14 running on the electronic device 12. The videogame app14 shown requires virtual energy to run and may acquire virtual energyfrom multiple sources. One source includes a wristband 16, whichincludes a motion detector to measure motion quantity, a signal emitterto transmit measured motion quantities, and an actuator to cause thesignal emitter to transmit. The wristband 16 allows bidirectionalcommunication 18 between the wristband and the videogame app 14 throughthe electronic device 12. Thus, the wristband 16 sends motion relateddata to the videogame app 14 through the electronic device 12 and mayalso be equipped with a receiver to receive signals from the videogameapp 14 through the electronic device 12. These signals may providevisual, auditory or other feedback to both the wristband 16 and theplayer wearing the wristband 16.

Also in FIG. 1, a powered sports ball 20 is shown with unidirectionalcommunication 22 to the videogame app 14 through the electronic device12. Like the wristband 16, the powered sports ball 20 includes a motiondetector to measure motion quantity, a signal emitter to transmitmeasured motion quantities, and an actuator to cause the signal emitterto transmit. Thus, the powered sports ball 20 sends motion related datato the videogame app 14 through the electronic device 12, where themotion related data gets translated to videogame app 14 energy. Thepowered sports ball 20 shown uses unidirectional communication 22 andcannot receive any signals from the electronic device. In a describedembodiment, powered sports ball 20 may have three different color LEDs,red, yellow and green, and an actuator button that causes one LED at atime to light. The LEDs may indicate the amount of stored motion data,such as red for empty, yellow for more than empty but less than full,and green for full. Simultaneously, a camera on the electronic device 12communicates with the videogame app 14 and detects which LED is litthrough the unidirectional communication 22. When an LED indicates thatthe powered sports ball 20 is full, the videogame app 14 increases theenergy needed to continue playing the videogame app 14. The poweredsports ball 20 may also sense when it is full and reset itself so thatthe red LED will show.

Further in FIG. 1, an enabled sports ball 24 is shown withunidirectional communication 26 to the videogame app 14 through theelectronic device 12. Unlike the wristband 16 and the powered sportsball 20, the enabled sports ball 24 does not sense motion, emit signals,or have an actuator. Rather, the enabled sports ball 24 contains ascannable code, such as a QR code, a Zappar™ Zapcode™, or a Microsoft™Tag™ code, that may get scanned by a camera on the electronic device 12and recognized by the videogame app 14. Once the videogame app 14recognizes the scanned code, the videogame app 14 increases the energyneeded to continue.

Finally in FIG. 1, the videogame app 14 may communicate through theelectronic device 12 with an Internet webpage 28 using bidirectionalcommunication 30 to allow a player to track his or her progress and tocompare that progress with other players. The Internet webpage 28 mayalso be used to purchase both physical and virtual items both in-gameand outside the game environment.

FIG. 2 shows wristbands and physical toys that produce activity baseddata. The physical game piece collection 32 includes several physicalgame pieces that the videogame app 14 from FIG. 1 recognizes using thecamera on the electronic device 12 in FIG. 1. Although a fixed number ofitems are shown in FIG. 2, this figure is not meant to limit the itemsthat the videogame app 14 will recognize. The physical game piececollection 32 displays the wristband 16, a wristband 16′, a soccer ball34, a football 36, a vortex football 38, and a basketball 40, all whichthe videogame app 14 may recognize. In the current example, thebasketball hoop 42 is not an item that the videogame app 14 willrecognize, however, because the videogame app 14 will recognize thebasketball 40, the videogame app 14 may assume that the basketball hoop42 is used. Consequently, for the soccer ball 34, the football 36, thevortex football 38, and the basketball 40, the videogame app 14 willrecognize which physical game piece the player uses and may adjust thevirtual environment accordingly. For example, if the videogame app 14 isan endless running game with alternate paths or available mini-games,then, when a player uses the vortex football 38, the videogame app 14will offer the player a chance to play a videogame featuring a virtualvortex football.

The wristband 16, on the other hand, may not relate specifically to aparticular sport, but provides a versatile way for a physical object tointeract with a virtual environment. For example, the videogame app 14may involve a combination of virtual play and physical play and may,after a certain amount of virtual play, challenge the player to performa timed challenge involving a calculable amount of motion that does notuse any moving sporting equipment. The wristband 16, as described, canmeasure the amount of player movement during the challenge andcommunicate movement data to the videogame app 14. In response, thevideogame app 14 may inform the player whether he or she won or lost thechallenge and may send a signal back to the wristband 16 to reset themotion detector to a zeroed state.

Furthermore, a plurality of wristbands, such as the wristband 16 and thewristband 16′, may be used to communicate with each other and with thevideogame app 14 to allow multiplayer game play. For example, thevideogame app 14 described above may challenge a player to use thewristband 16 to compete in a multiplayer game where each player mustcreate as much motion data as that player can in a set period of time.The challenged player's wristband 16 will record its own motion data andcommunicate with the wristband 16′ (and all other wristbands in theplurality of wristbands) to record the motion data produced by thewristband 16′. The wristband 16 may then communicate with the videogameapp 14 to convey information about the winner, as well as informationabout all other players. The wristband 16′ may also communicate directlywith the videogame app 14.

FIG. 3 shows players using the band and a sports product to createactivity based data and converting the activity based data intovideogame resources. The available physical game pieces 44 include awristband 16 and a soccer ball 34. Although the available physical gamepieces 44 do not include a skateboard, the skateboarder 46 shown may usethe wristband 16 to create motion data to send via unidirectionalcommunication 50 to the videogame app 14 on the electronic device 12.Following the unidirectional communication 50, the videogame app 14processes the motion data using a program module that quantifies themotion data and that converts the motion data to usable virtual energyand sends the virtual energy to a program module controlling the gamingportion of the videogame app 14 using unidirectional communication 52.The videogame app 14 notifies the player when the conversion occursusing a moving energy conversion indicator 54 along with the conversionprogress using an energy conversion meter 56. Once the converted energyis transferred via the unidirectional communication 52 to the programmodule controlling the gaming portion of the videogame app 14, thevirtual character 58 will have replenished resources to use in thevideogame app 14.

In some instances, for example when the player is a skateboarder 46 andthe videogame app 14 does not have a virtual skateboard for use withinthe game, the physical skateboard is not recognizable to the videogameapp 14, and the virtual character 58 simply acquires more energy-typeresources. In other instances, for example when the player is in asoccer game 48 using a recognizable physical toy, such as a soccer ball34, the videogame app 14 will recognize the soccer ball 34 and provide avirtual soccer ball 60 for the virtual character 58 to use during therun along with increased virtual energy-type resources. The videogameapp 14 may also recognize the virtual soccer ball 60 and add virtualsoccer goal posts 62 to the run. The virtual character 58 may then tryto kick the virtual soccer ball 60 between the virtual soccer goal posts62 to gain further points or other virtual resources.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a wristband. The wristband 16 has anadjustable strap 64 to fit wrists of many sizes so that the wristband 16may be used by players of many ages and sizes. The wristband may beequipped with a rechargeable battery and wireless communicationscapabilities such as Bluetooth or something similar. The wristband 16shown has an LED meter 66 to display levels of various things dependingon the display mode. The various display modes may include batterycharge level, wireless signal strength, stored energy data level, andother measured quantities. A player may use the LED mode button 68 tochange the quantity that is displayed. The wristband 16 may further havea micro USB port 70 for such activities and battery charging andcommunicating with an electronic device.

FIG. 5A shows a view of a sports ball that can store motion data. Thesports ball 72 shown is a soccer ball and contains a motion detectionunit 74 that measures the quantity of motion that the sports ball 72experiences. The motion detection unit 74 further has a signal emitterto transmit the motion data so that a smart electronic device mayreceive it and use the data within an app. In the figure shown,transmission from the motion detection unit 74 is actuated by pressingthe motion detection unit 74 into the sports ball.

FIG. 5B shows an exploded view of the sports ball shown in FIG. 5A. Thesports ball skin 76 can be a typical inflatable soccer ball, or othermobile sports object, modified to hold the motion detection unit 74. Themotion detection unit 74 in the described embodiment is made fromseveral parts shown in FIG. 5B and may be assembled from the bottom upand inserted into the sports ball skin 76. Such assembly includes asupporting lower foam insert 78 held to an upper foam insert 82 usingsuitable nuts 80. A battery mechanism fits into the lower foam insert 78and the upper foam insert 82 and consists of a battery door 84, a washer85 and O-ring 86 placed onto the battery door 84, and button cellbatteries 88 situated within the inner edge of the O-ring 86. The buttoncell batteries 88 are then covered by a battery box 90 that fits snuglyon top of the button cell batteries 88. The battery mechanism is thenclosed by fastening the battery door cover 93 to the battery door 84with nuts 92. The battery mechanism is then abutted with a coverassembly supported by a cover insert 94. A rubber key 96 is then placedinto the cover insert 94 and between the battery door cover 93 and aprinted circuit board 98 so that the button cell batteries 88 will powerthe printed circuit board 98 when pressed together. The remainder of thecover assembly includes a button 100 placed into an inner cover 102,then placed into a top cover 104, then placed into an outer cover 106.

In sum, all these pieces are coupled together to form the motiondetection unit 74 and placed into the sports ball skin 76 so that thetop surface of the outer cover 106 is flush with the ball skin 76surface. In use, the printed circuit board 98 contains the circuitry tomeasure the sports ball motion and when a player presses the motiondetection unit 74 towards the sports ball skin 76 center, the storedmotion data is transmitted.

FIG. 5C shows a view of a sports ball with a scannable code. The sportsball 108 shown does not have the circuitry just discussed but isidentifiable by the scannable code 110 on the surface of the sports ball108. This sports ball 108 further does not have any means to measuremovement. Thus, this sports ball 108 is considered enabled, rather thanpowered, as discussed above. Rather than the videogame discussed abovereceiving LED signals through the camera, or non-visual signals throughanother receiver, the camera on an electronic device 12 discussed aboveis used to scan the scannable code 110, and the videogame app 14discussed above recognizes the sports ball 108 by its scannable code 110and increases the energy in the videogame app 14. Depending on theembodiment, the scannable code 110 may be scanned once, periodically, orrandomly. The scannable code 110 may be any scannable code, such as a QRcode, a Zapcode™ by Zappar™, Microsoft™ Tag™ codes, a bar code, and thelike.

As an example of a described embodiment, a game based on the Nerf™product line and referred to as Energy™ provides a videogame app on amobile electronic device based on an endless running game concept andfueled not only by videogame play, but also by the energy of real lifeplay and activities. The game motivation system is designed to creategame play loops and rewards that interact between the virtual world of avideogame and the real world activities performed with the Energy™products, such as wristbands, balls and special cards. The game varietyand replay value is rich and also offers a micro-transaction shop forusers who wish to spend accumulated energy and add depth to their game,gain an extra edge, or further personalize their experience.

Examples of described embodiments of the game may have the several gamefeatures as follows, although other embodiments may have differingnumbers of the listed features or different features altogether. Forexample, the videogame may present two playable characters where eachcharacter has two possible states, or modes, normal mode and power mode,each which change the character and the respective virtual environment.A game player may customize each character's equipment, appearance(aesthetics), and behaviors. The game also may use several projectiletoys, including a basketball, a football, a soccer ball, or a Nerf™Vortex™ football. Although the following may vary, the videogame portionof the described embodiment further features: 1) 26 unlockable characterskills; 2) 22 items of head gear equipment; 3) 6 consumable “booster”items; 4) 3 companion creatures; 5) a procedural level generator thatcreates a different track for every game played; 6) 7 environments; 7)40 pieces of track; 8) 40 game play ingredients; 9) 3 sport exotic gameplay with basketball, soccer and football currencies; 12) integratedplay that allows a player to transfer energy from a real wristband ortoy to the videogame; and 13) in app purchases. This list is notexclusive, and other features may be available.

The described embodiments will have a stress factor to motivate the gameplayer. The stress factor that pushes the player forward justifies whyhe is running. The described embodiment may be a figurative story builtfrom a brand's tagline, for example, “Nerf is forward, Nothin' isbehind, don't stop running!” Using shader technology in Unity™, forexample, the world behind the player may be “deconstructed” as he isrunning forward in the videogame.

In the described embodiment, the Nerf or Nothin' concept is presented inthe introduction cut-scene at the beginning of every game, andconstitutes the main feedback to indicate when the player has taken ahit or whenever the game is over. At the same time, it also justifiesthat with every new game there is a new track, as the previous one isalways annihilated by the Nothin'.

As an example, one may imagine a big black beast running after the maincharacter in a temple run. Whenever a player takes a hit, the beastappears running behind the player for a moment, until the player outrunsit once more. If the character fails, the beast will dance beside thecharacter's corpse.

In the described embodiments, when the character takes a hit, cracksappear, the road rumbles and road pieces fall under the player's feet,which is very intense. It does not affect the game play but createstension for the player. When the game ends, the Nothin' catches up withthe player and deconstructs the road, leaving the player falling down avoid.

Features of the described embodiment may include the following, forexample: 1) a mesh deconstruction shader; 2) overlay crack texture,which can be displayed progressively; 3) rumbling; 4) dust particles; 5)fleeing birds; 6) falling buildings; and 7) tilting light posts.

In the described embodiments, the game itself is a very smooth andflexible runner action game with a deep system of progression andupgrades to keep the players engaged. With simple touch controls, thecharacter is capable of a wide variety of actions, including jumping,dashing, slamming and shooting. Further, the system generates adifferent playfield for every game. The player can make the characterdash in the streets and on the walls, perform half pipes, loop,corkscrew and ride slopes. A standard game session can last from 1 to 10minutes on average, or more for more highly skilled players. In thedescribed embodiment, game dwelling time often occurs outside of thecore game play and in the reward system. The total length of the game isintended to vary and range from 4 hours on average to 15 or more hoursfor completionist players.

The described embodiments may also include an economy system in thevideogame. First, the videogame offers four types of resources for theplayer to use during their game experiences. These 4 resources are: 1)Energy; 2) Sparks (soft currency); 3) Stars (hard currency); and 4) realmoney.

FIG. 6 shows a screen shot of a dashboard used for player interactionwith the virtual environment. The profile button 112 gives the playeraccess to an avatar creator and editor, a registration portal, anattributes editor, and an animator to customize the game experience. Theprofile button 112 may be used to register the wristband and set profilevariables. The player may choose from many archetype avatars and editduring game play, whether short term or extended. The profile button 112may be used to disclose the players levels and the associated attributesand to choose and animate virtual environment activities. In thedescribed embodiment, more movement creates more animation.

The tracker board button 114 gives the player access to overallstatistics on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, including statisticsrelating to player's levels, activities, goals set and goals met, onlineplay, competitive standing, times, progress status and upcoming rewardsamong other trackable information. The missions/training button 116gives the player access to missions control and a physical trainingcenter where the player may choose and control physical and virtualmissions to help the player energize and level up the avatar. Thevault/shop button 118 provides access to controls for trophies andrewards and how they are showcased, along with a currency converter. Bypressing the vault/shop button 118, the player may earn, purchase, pickup, organize, play and show off all the player's achievements andexclusive rewards in a vault. The more one plays, the greater the numberof available items.

The energy sync button 120 allows the player to sync all physical itemsin the game ecosystem that the player has. The player may receive extrapoints and exclusives from all secondary products purchased. The gamingcenter button 122 provides a gaming platform link to all gaming apps inthe game ecosystem. These apps allow players to upload their favoriteavatar as the key game figure. All points generated go back into thegame ecosystem.

Several physical objects, such as a basketball and hoop, a soccer ball,a vortex football, a football, or a wristband may be used with thedescribed embodiment, although other objects may be used. Correspondingsport videogame play includes a lot of game content associated with thephysical objects. For example, a basketball, a soccer ball, and afootball may all be used as the physical object and as certain types ofprojectiles in the videogame. Projectiles include any toy that can bemanaged by the throwing mechanics of the character. The throwingmechanics involves three main types of projectile actions: 1) kicking asoccer ball; 2) throwing a basketball; and 3) throwing a football.

Equipping a projectile lets a player equip one type of projectile thatthe player will carry in the videogame. This allows the player to playthe videogame with a representation of the physical toy. The projectileserves many different functions in game, such as destroying obstacles,collecting resources and shooting goals. Using a basketball allowsbouncing a ball in the environment, hitting multiple targets with onethrow, and a medium rate of fire. Using a football allows a fast linearthrow, destruction of targets on impact, and a fast rate of fire. Usinga soccer ball allows a very wide trajectory, a kick, and low rate offire. In order to avoid the presence of a football target when theplayer is equipped with a basketball, the type of target that appears inthe game is directly determined by the type of projectile that theplayer has equipped.

Sport game play is represented in the videogame by the sport exotic gameplay section. While running on the track, the player will eventuallyencounter a portion of the track that is themed to represent one of thethree sports that are featured in the game. Just like the projectiletargets, the type of projectile that the player has equipped alsodetermines what sport section he will encounter. The sport sectionscontain more projectile targets than the rest of the game in addition tothe challenge of opponent characters. During the sport sections,opponent characters start to appear to challenge the player. These fullyanimated 3D character athletes each have their own special movementpattern. Basketball players can jump. Soccer players can strafe left andright. Football players charge like trains on a straight line.

FIG. 7 shows an endless running videogame scenario with a heads updisplay. A game play heads up display (HUD) may be used to display anenergy meter 124, distance traveled 126, a pause button 128, the amountof sparks collected during the current run 130, the amount of all-starscollected during the current run 132, and the amount of batteriesavailable 134.

FIG. 8 shows a player motivation loop. What drives players to play agame is the unique experience it can provide. When a player feels like agame can no longer provide new content or that the player cannot improvehis score to beat his own high score or someone else's score, he willstop playing the game. The following loop shows the relationship usedbetween the player's perceptions of the game in relation to the gameresources he has gathered and the time he has to play the game to keepthe player playing. Step 136 shows the player involved in game play.Step 138 explains that during game play, the player achieves a score andacquires additional resources. Step 140 poses the question of whetherthe player feels like he can better his score or that the game can offerhim new content or new experience in the time he has to play the game.If the answer to the question in step 140 is no, the player stopsplaying in step 142. If the answer to the question in step 140 is yes,step 144 recognizes that the player wants to get a better score, seemore environments, buy more items, and level up, so he continuesplaying. Step 146 shows that if a player has resources during game play,then the player visits the shop to use his resources to buy new itemshoping to improve his performance.

FIG. 9 shows a player progression loop for a particular describedembodiment. In step 148, the overall game starts. At this time, theplayer may not have any resources. Thus, in step 150, the player isbrought to a traditional wheel-spinning based mini-game, where theplayer may earn initial resources. Once the player has some resources,in step 152, the player sees the main menu, where the player may spendor further accumulate resources. The player may enter the endlessrunning game in step 154, scan a toy in step 156, purchase virtual eggsto hatch in step 158 or enter the store in step 160, where the playermay purchase real items, or virtual items, such as hats in step 162.

Once the player is in the endless running game in step 154, the playermay experience several environments, such as environment #1 in step 164,environment #2 in step 166, and environment #3 in step 168. In thedifferent environments, the player will have the opportunity to gatherresources and to store them in step 170 for current or later use. Anytime during the endless running game in step 154, the player may go tostep 172 to play a mini-game or to step 174 to quit. Also during theendless running game in step 154, the player may run out of resourcesand die in step 176. If the player dies, the player may be transferredto a cannon mini-game in step 178 to earn more resources. The player maythen play again immediately in step 180 or play later in step 182.

Energy is the most important resource of the game. Without energy, theplayer will not experience the game fully. Energy is acquired mainly bysyncing the physical toy and wristband with the videogame. Energy alsoallows player to reach a level where the player may unlock access tobatteries.

FIG. 10 shows a flow diagram for a videogame energy resource. The arrowflow shows that once the player has started the endless runner game play184, the player will be able to acquire energy 186 and use energy 186.As FIG. 10 shows, energy 186 may also be acquired by scanning a physicaltoy 188, playing a portal mini-game 190, playing a cannon mini-game 192or by playing a wheel mini-game 194. FIG. 10 further shows that a playermay spend energy 186 by purchasing eggs 196 or by leveling up 198.

Sparks are the second most important resources of the videogame. Sparksare used as a common reward for the player. Sparks will be awarded tothe players often. Sparks let players buy accessories, abilities,boosters and batteries within the videogame. There are many ways toacquire and spend Sparks in the game. Sparks are considered softcurrency.

FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram for a videogame spark resource. The arrowflow shows that once the player has started the endless runner game play200, the player will be able to acquire sparks 202 and use sparks 202.As FIG. 11 shows, sparks 202 may also be acquired by leveling up 204, byscanning a physical toy 206, by playing a portal mini-game 208, byplaying a cannon mini-game 210, by playing missions 212, by gainingachievements 214 or by playing a wheel mini-game 216. FIG. 11 furthershows that a player may spend sparks 202 by purchasing double jumps 218,skills 220, moves 222, abilities 224, accessories 226, boosters 228 andbatteries 230.

All-stars are the third most important game resource. All-stars are usedas a rare reward for players. The videogame will have many opportunitiesto reward players with all-stars but will rarely actually award them.When the videogame awards all-stars, it will only award one to threeall-stars at a time. Most items that a player may acquire with all-starswill be top tier items with fairly high prices of twenty or moreall-stars. Thus, players have an incentive to continue playing thevideogame. In the described embodiment, there are many ways to acquireall-stars but only a few ways to spend them. All-stars are consideredhard currency.

FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram for a videogame all-star resource. Thearrow flow shows that once the player has started the endless runnergame play 232, the player will be able to acquire all-stars 234 and useall-stars 234. As FIG. 12 shows, all-stars 234 may also be acquired byscanning a physical toy 236, by playing a portal mini-game 238, byplaying a cannon mini-game 240, by gaining achievements 242, by playingmissions 243, by playing a wheel mini-game 244, by acquiring star packs246 or by leveling up 248. FIG. 12 further shows that a player may spendall-stars 234 by purchasing accessories 250 or by purchasing virtualeggs 252.

Regarding the fourth resource, investing real money in the game is notnecessary to enjoy it but will help speed up progress.

These resources can be acquired by certain methods, also called “wells”.These methods include, but are not limited to: 1) scanning Nerf™devices; 2) collecting resources during videogame play; 3) collectingresources while playing a mini-game; 4) completing challenges; 5)completing achievements; and 6) in-app purchases.

Players can acquire the following game elements, also named “sinks”, byspending the acquired resources: 1) accessories; 2) double jumpcapabilities; 3) various moves; 4) boosters; 5) hats; 6) energy storingbatteries; 7) virtual eggs to raise pets; and 8) all-star packs.

In the described embodiments, what resources may be used to purchaseeach well or sink may be limited. For example, certain items may only bepurchased when the videogame is energized. Furthermore, energy may onlybuy certain wells and certain sinks, while the other currencies may onlybuy other combinations of wells and sinks.

An energy meter lets the player know how much energy has accumulated.Once a player accumulates a certain amount of energy, the playertriggers the power mode. The app may provide audio and/or visualfeedback that the player has entered power mode. There are many ways toacquire and to spend energy in the game. In the described embodiment,the player may acquire energy by playing with the physical wristband andtoy, by collecting energy tokens during mini-games accessible from themain videogame, and by interacting with various game play ingredients.

By transferring energy to the game and filling the energy meter, theplayer can trigger “Power mode”. This has several effects on the game,including that: 1) the player's character becomes the Power character;2) sparks becomes visually supercharged and are worth twice theirdefault value; 3) all the menus become lit up and look energized; 4) theShop icon is in a different state and pulsing, to indicate that someitems are now available while the game is in that state; 5) player speedincreases by %150; 6) the player can run through small obstacles; and 7)the energy meter starts to decrease at the rate of 1 unit of energy per0.1 second. Thus, one full energy meter can sustain an energized gamefor 10 seconds. When the videogame character transforms to Power mode,the player is shown animation indicating the change.

The application makes the player familiar with integrated physical andvirtual play concepts and powered game feature early into theexperience. This may be accomplished using a game trailer exposingvirtual play in conjunction with real play, the action of scanningproducts, and normal versus power game modes. Familiarity with theintegrated environment is further reinforced by a first welcome pop upwindow, incentive towards the scan button and brief how to scantutorial, access to detailed information on every major game menuscreens, a very polished “toy to life” cinematic when scanning product,“Power mode activated!” feedback when the game's Energy meter reaches100%, a gift of a battery item and how to use tutorial after the firstgame to give a taste of the high roller economy loop, an integrated playreminder in the score screen at the end of every game, and recognitionof a long period between play to pop up reminders. In the earliestphases of the experience, more rewards and cheaper unlockable items aredistributed to give generous rapid earnings to increase the chances thatthe player will use the game more.

Described embodiments have tutorials, each with a win and fail outcomeand the ability to reset. New tutorials are introduced as the playerunlocks things and experiments with new situations. A tutorial can slowdown time in order to give the player time to react. Tutorials canhappen in-game and through menus. Tutorials exist for core game play,ability upgrades, integrated play and scanning and power modes, althoughother tutorials may be used for other aspects of the embodiments.

Core videogame play includes various playable characters with variouscharacteristics. When the energy meter hits 100%, the normal kidcharacter transforms into the power kid character, with additionalattributes and rewards. The normal kid character has the followingcharacteristics: 1) speed increases over time; 2) may throw projectiles;3) can run, dash, jump and double jump; 4) can slam; 5) can equip anduse item; and 6) can run on walls. Other attributes are possible. Thepower kid character has the following characteristics: 1) can see anduse power game play ingredients; 2) earns double currency for picking upobjects; 3) occasionally spawns hard currency; 4) has more powerfulprojectiles and more powerful slams; 5) can run on water; 6) can breakweak obstacles; 7) can use bonus portals; 8) can grind on rails; and 9)can recover from damage faster. Other attributes are possible.

In some embodiments, the basic videogame character actions includerunning, strafing and jumping and the player may unlock double jumping,target shooting and kicking, free shooting and kicking, dashing, andslamming by smashing a foot to the ground. Other actions are possible.In addition to these basic actions, special actions may be performedwhen the player interacts with special game play ingredients and mayinclude freefalling, grinding on rails, performing a super-athleticmove, and sliding down a slope. Other special actions are possible.Exotic game play controls further include pipe controls where strafingworks like a half-pipe, and one may swipe for a full loop gesture. Thesegestures may also be used for aerial game play. Other gestures arepossible.

The videogame character may display many hit reactions, includingstumbling while the crumbling path approaches the character and death.Both stumbling and death may be represented in various forms ofanimation, and other reactions are possible.

The described embodiments have several virtual camera tools. The defaultgame camera is positioned to keep the main character viewable as much aspossible while showing the whole width of the track and keeping a goodscreen portion and focus on the horizon line from where most of the gameplay appears to the player. The cinematic camera is scripted to showcasethe character in an animated cut scene on key moments of the player'sperformance. By default, the camera does not jump with the character. Ifthe character jumps beyond the safe frame, the camera follows him. Upontouching the ground, the camera moves smoothly back to its defaultposition. Bullet time may be used to slow down the game time scaletemporarily. A near death camera may zoom out a little or move asdictated by an animation. Freeze frames are used to enhance particularlypowerful actions, such as energizing, transforming energy, and groundslamming on many objects.

In the videogame, low and high roller loops are used. To maximize valueand desirability to the integrated play experience, the amount of gamefeatures are carefully balanced where content access and progressionmeans are available to the player depending on whether the playerscanned a product or not, or if the player is in Power mode or Normalmode.

FIG. 13 shows game play roller loops. The loops begin in step 254 whenenergy is injected into the game ecosystem through real play with aphysical toy, by scanning physical toys, by virtual play, by gainingenergy through means such as promotions, or by purchasing energy.Initially, the player is exposed to the high roller loop by playing ahigh energy game in step 256 to lure the player into the realm of highroller playing. Because of the high roller play in step 256, the playercollects hard currency in step 258, uses power-related game playingredients in step 260, accesses special areas in step 262 and depletesthe energy available for the current run in step 264 but ends up richfrom the hard currency collected in step 258. The player can then spendsome currency to level up in step 266 and to buy high value gear in step268. The player may then return to step 254 to inject more energy intothe ecosystem and repeat the high roller loop, or the player may beginthe low roller loop by playing a low energy game in step 270, where theplayer will earn soft currency in step 272, buy low value gear in step274 and either return to step 254 to inject more energy into theecosystem and follow the high roller loop or follow the low roller loopand return to step 270 to play a low energy game.

Players may also level up in the energy core. The energy core is whereall energy acquired by the character of the videogame is collected.Every bit of energy transferred to the game is added to the energy core.The energy core is tied to the leveling up system of the videogame. Byleveling up the player is rewarded with soft and hard currency. Theenergy core is presented on the game result screen, the product scanresult screen, a pause menu, and a statistics screen.

Between each run the player can visit the shop where he can buyprojectiles, hats, skills, boosters, double jumps, moves and batteries.The shop lists all items separated in categories in a long scrollinglist. Each item is represented by its icon, name and price. By tappingon a line, it expands to reveal the item description, its effect and aBuy button. Projectiles, skills, double jumps, moves, hats and batteriesare permanent items that once bought by the player will forever stay inits “Inventory”. Boosters are consumable.

Projectiles are virtual versions of NERF™ energy toys that can only bebought using real money. Buying projectiles in the shop gives the playerthe same abilities in-game as if the player has bought the real life toyand has scanned it into the game. A player can change the projectile byvisiting a specific menu.

Hats are virtual vanity items and exist in the game to allow a player tobe able to minimally “customize” the look of its in-game avatar andincrease its “Cool” factor. They have no effect in the game. Player canchange the hat they wear by visiting a specific menu.

Skills are game play improvements the player can buy to help performbetter in the videogame or to modify the game experience. A player mayonly use one skill at a time. A player can change the skill they use byvisiting a specific menu.

Boosters are consumable items that give a player an advantage in-game.Each booster is designed for a particular situation and can be triggeredsolely in that situation. For example, a booster may provide extra lifeimmediately after death, or a booster may apply a random multiplier to aplayer's score during a particular time in game play. Other boosters mayinclude, but not be limited to, random rebates on purchases, a headstart in the videogame, extra power from a weapon, etc.

Double jumps are vanity animations that also exist in the game to allowa player to customize the behavior of the avatar. A player can only buydouble jumps once the player has bought the “Double jump” move. A playercan select one double jump animation that will replace the standarddouble jump animation. Double jumps have no effect in game.

Moves are special in-game actions that the player can acquire toincrease performance. There are five moves that the player can buy,which are double jump, dashing, slamming, target shooting and kicking,and free shooting and kicking. Other moves may be used. Once a move hasbeen acquired by the player this move goes into the player inventory. Inthe described embodiment, the player can select only one move to useduring a run.

Once the player buys an item, a checkmark is added on that item line andits price disappears. This signifies that this item is owned by theplayer. For boosters that can be acquired more than once, a multiplierwill also be displayed on the item line. For example: Life booster X3,signifies that the player has 3 life boosters in is “inventory”.

A character menu allows a player to “Equip” what the player wants forthe run. A player can only equip one item of each type in the describedembodiment. Types of “Items” the player can equip are hats, skills,double jumps, moves, and pets, although this list is not exhaustive. Aplayer selects items by tapping the screen on the mobile device.

Batteries are used to allow the player to store energy beyond what isusable during a run, thus allowing the player to experience a longer runin “Energized mode”. In the described embodiment, a player may have upto five batteries, which the player may purchase after reaching certainlevels within the videogame, and the player may only purchase batteriesusing sparks.

Feats are statistics about the player's performance that are kept in theplayer's profile. The main objective of the feats is to provide theplayer with a way to evaluate progress towards the completion ofachievements so that the player feels like he or she is progressing andto provide a way for the player to compare overall performance withother players. Feats are listed in a “Feat” sub menu in an “Options”menu. “Feats” may include, but are not limited to: 1) longest rundistance; 2) total run distance; 3) highest run score; etc.

Achievements are mid-term and long-term goals that the player canachieve to receive rewards. Achievements are listed on one line showingthe name, progress and reward. When the player taps on the achievement,its line expands to show the achievement description. Contrary tomissions, all achievements can progress at the same time. When anachievement is completed, a notice appears at the top of the screenletting the player know that the player has completed the achievement.The notice gives the name of the achievement followed by the term“Completed”. For example, “Super Runner Completed”. At that moment, thereward for the achievement is also added to the player's Sparks andAll-Stars account. If multiple achievements are completed at the sametime, their notice will appear one after the other. Achievementsinclude, but are not limited to: 1) running certain distances; 2)scoring a certain number of points; 3) owning a certain number ofphysical game-related toys; etc.

Missions are mid-term and long-term goals that the player can completeto receive rewards. In the described embodiment, at launch, the gamewill offer 40 missions. In the proper menu, missions are listed on oneline showing the name, progress and reward. When the player taps on amission, the line expands to show the mission description. Contrary toachievements, missions only progress when they are activated, e.g.displayed in the mission screen. Once a mission is completed, the playerreceives the corresponding reward and the mission is shown as“Complete”. When a set of three current missions are completed, thesystem randomly selects three other missions from the remaining missionsthat have not been completed. A player can skip a mission deemed toodifficult by tapping a skip button. It will cost the player the amountof the mission's reward to skip the mission. For example, if a missionhas a reward of 500 sparks, it will cost 500 sparks for the player toskip the mission.

To make sure players come back to the game often, retention mechanismsand rewards will be built in the game. There are 3 types of retentionmechanisms: 1) short term, to entice return to the game every 3 hours;2) medium term, to entice return to the game every 6 hours; and 3) longterm, to entice return to the game at least once per day. The game willhave 3 corresponding retention mechanisms: 1) a wheel of chancemini-game that the player can play once every 3 hours; 2) an egg caringmechanism where the player must take care of a pet egg at least onceevery 6 hours; and 3) a daily bonus awarded for logging in every 24hours.

The wheel of chance mini-game is based on the classic mechanism wherethe player spins a wheel that will randomly stop in front of a prize.The player can spin the wheel by pressing a spin button for free onceevery 3 hours. If the player wants to spin it more often the player mustpay some hard currency to do so. Prizes may be, but are not limited tocertain numbers of sparks, boosters, and energy. Extra spins in thedescribed embodiment cost an increasing number of all-stars.

In the Egg Caring Mechanic mini-game, players can acquire virtual eggsand take care of them until they hatch and become a pet. Eggs can bebought in the store. Once the player acquires an egg, the player musttake care of it at least once every 6 hours to continue its growth. Theplayer must take care of the egg by transferring energy to it. The eggconsumes the energy to feed its growth, and, as long as the egg hasenergy, it will continue to grow. When the energy count reaches 0 thegrowth stops. Eggs may have different characteristics to make them lookand act differently, different hatch times, and different energyconsumption rates. Eggs may provide in-game benefits including, but notlimited to, saving a player from falling off the track and wiping thescreen of enemies and obstacles. In the described embodiment, a playercan take care of only one egg at a time, though multiple eggs arepossible. However, players can have multiple pets, or hatched eggs. Petsfollow the player during the videogame runs and give the player specialattributes and the ability to save the player once from falling to hisdeath.

The daily bonus is awarded once every 24 hours when the player entersthe game. The reward increases with each consecutive day that the playerplays the game. On the sixth consecutive day, the player gets a randomreward selected out of five possible rewards. For each additionalconsecutive day, the player also gets a random reward. When a randomreward is awarded, it cannot be awarded again until all the randomrewards have been given. When all random rewards have been awarded, themechanism is reset and all random rewards can be awarded again. When theplayer misses a day, the daily bonus reward is reset to zero.

In the described embodiment, the game world is built in severaldifferent environments that differ mainly in the aspect of the track,the type of ingredients found on the track, and the background visuals.The environments are designed to serve as the backbone of the game'slevel design progression. The default environments always chain in thesame order and represent the ascension of the player from earth intospace, for example. Game play progression continues with crazier tracksections and game play ingredients as the player continues to ascent.Additional environments can be unlocked by progressing in the game overmid to long term play.

FIG. 14 shows the game play wireframes flowchart for a describedembodiment. To help understand the overall structure of the game, theflowchart shown in FIG. 14 gives an overview of game menus and how theycan be navigated. The described embodiment begins with the app launch276, followed by a game intro 278 and a wheel of chance mini-game 280before arriving at the main menu 282. From the main menu 282, the playercan reach the game play screen 284, where the player may play theendless running game and either play the cannon mini-game 286 and returnto the main menu 282 or go to the pause menu 288. From the pause menu288, the player may return to the game play screen 284 or proceed to thesync menu 290. The player may also reach the sync menu 290 directly fromthe main menu 282. Once at the sync menu 290, the player may reach andreturn from the pair wristband menu 292, the sync wristband menu 294,the sync toy menu 296, the enter code menu 298 and the main menu 282.Also from the main menu 282, the player may reach and return from theegg/pets menu 300, the character hats menu 302, the shop menu 304 andthe stats options menu 306. The player may also navigate between theegg/pets menu 300 and the character hats menu 302, and between thecharacter hats menu 302 and the shop menu 304. From the stats optionsmenu 306, the player may navigate to and from the feats menu 308, themissions menu 310 and the achievements menu 312.

The following are starting point examples of energy point accumulation.In described embodiments, the specific rate and amount of energy pointsaccumulated will be calculated from, but not be limited to, thecollective use and levels of several factors. 1) The player will earn 10energy points per hour when the accelerometer of the smart device is inuse. The points will be credited all at once at the end of each hour. 2)The player will earn 50 energy points per hour when the accelerometer ofthe wristband is in use. The points will be credited into the app uponsyncing. Points will be prorated for fractional hours. Movement is basedon generic movement tracking related to the wristband alone, and notnecessarily based on any specific gestures, directed game play, orpowered product. Coarse correlation with the intensity of sensor inputsmay be reflected in exact energy accumulation. 3) As the app game levelincreases, so might a multiplier. 4) The player will earn 10 energypoints for the completion of a game. Game play examples include timedchallenges where a user selects a 5, 10, 15, or 20 second timer andmoves as much as possible before the timer ends. The raw result is shownon the wristband LED display. Goal challenges include a game where theuser tries to move to increase the energy meter shown in the LED displayfrom empty to full and the raw result is correlated to how quickly thisis done. 5) The player will earn 50 energy points for the completion ofa game. Game play examples include timed challenges that are the same asfor single player games but users connected via the wristband RF linkcompete to see who has the highest raw result to determine the winner.Goal challenges are the same as for single player games but connectedusers compete to see who reaches the goal first to determine the winner.A joust game may be played where connected users must keep theirrespective wristbands still and parallel to the ground and protectedfrom a high impact in order to win. 6) The appropriate multiplier forparticular cost levels of powered product may vary. 7) The multipliermay increase as the number of friends increases. 8) During promotionalwindows of time, a multiplier will be applied to any energy points thatare synced into the app. For example, during the World Cup, anadditional 4× multiplier may be applied.

In a sample use case scenario based on the above point accumulationalgorithm, a player may download and open the app, and while the app isopen or in the background, the player moves around with the device foran hour, and earns 10 points. The player will have a total of 10 points.If the player only wears the wristband and moves for an hour, the playerwill earn 50 points. The player will then have a total of 60 points. Ifthe player plays the app and reaches level 4, the multiplier will be setto 2. The player will still have a total of 60 points. If next, theplayer only wears the wristband and moves for an hour, the player willearn 100 points (50 points/hour×2). The player now has a total of 160points.

If the player plays a single player game and finishes, the user willearn 20 points, 10 points for completing the game times the multiplierof 2. The player will have 180 points. If the player syncs the high costpowered product into the app, the multiplier is 4. The player will stillhave a total of 180 points. Now, if the player only wears the wristbandand moves for an hour, the player will earn 400 points (50×2×4). Theplayer will have 580 points.

If the player adds a friend, there is a new multiplier of 2, and theplayer will have still have 580 points. Then, if the player successfullycompletes a multiplayer game, the player will get another 800 points(50×2×4×2). The player will have 1380 points.

Now, if the player plays for an hour during a promotional time periodwith a multiplier of 4 at 50 points per hour, the player will earn 1600points (50×2×4×2×4). The player will now have 2980 points. With so manypoints, the player may exchange 1000 energy points in the app fordigital power-up, such as zero-gravity shoes. The player will now have1980 points. From the foregoing use case scenario, one can experiencethe game play of a described embodiment.

Another example of multiplayer game play is a challenge to score themost energy points in a set amount of time. Each player will have xnumber of seconds to move and score energy points. Once time runs out,the amount that each player scored will be compared with the otherplayers and the points will be distributed based on ranking.

Another example of multiplayer game play is a challenge to score a setamount of energy points before your competitors do. Each player willthen move until the first one hits the set amount of energy to win thegame. This continues until only one player left has not hit the targetedamount. The players then sync with the app and points are distributedbased on each players finish order. This game could be played asindividuals or in teams.

Game play in the described embodiments may involve several game playstories. The following shows six examples of some game play stories thatmay be used.

In the first game story, the user launches the app and is greeted intothe experience when the main character waves at him. Initially, the“Energy” meter is red indicating that it is empty. The player ispresented with and intrigued by a glowing “Scan” button and how toinstructions for integrated play. Following instructions and/or a scan,the player returns to a home page and presses a “Run!” button. The Nerfor Nothin' event described above begins as the background startsdeconstructing itself and the game character jumps forward to startrunning. The virtual camera view turns and starts following the runningcharacter. During the initial run, the player is presented basictutorials with failures turned off temporarily. As a reward forfinishing the tutorial, the player begins a very exciting and rewardingsequence with a huge jump to begin full game play. During the beginningof the game play, the game spawns bonus sequences to make starting a newgame is rewarding. The bonus sequences are introduced isolated fromother game play to focus the player's attention on learning. At thestart, the player is not equipped with paraphernalia or skill and canonly perform on quarter-pipes, trampolines and obstacle courses. Whenthe player finishes the first game, a message appears to congratulatethe player and to offer a few boosters to help start the next gamestory.

In the second game story, the player learns through the first syncingand energy combination. After the game with the first story, the playerhas completed the first game and has used up all available energy. Theenergy meter displays empty energy reserves. A finger points at themeter to entice the player to tap it. The player taps on the emptyenergy meter and is presented with information about the energy in thegame, such as the benefit of having an energized game and how toreplenish his energy meter. The videogame suggests that the player playswith a Nerf™ band and/or toy and return later to transfer new energy tothe videogame. The player then closes this tutorial and notices that afinger appears on a “Sync” button in the game main menu. The player thentaps the “Sync” button and is presented with a message asking if theplayer has charged up the wristband or toy and is ready to sync. Themessage explains that the player should only continue adding energy tothe videogame if the wristband or toys are fully energized.

If the player has not energized the physical toy and the wristband, theplayer plays with the physical toy and the wristband until they arefully energized. The player then returns to the videogame with a chargedwristband and a toy to open the videogame. The player then notices thatthe “Pair band” button is pulsing, so the player taps on the “Pair band”button. The videogame then asks the player to press the “Broadcastbutton” on his wristband while the videogame looks for a band to pairwith Bluetooth or some other communications protocol. The videogamefinds the band and pairs it with the game. The videogame tells theplayer that the band is full and that the player should transfer energyfrom the band to the videogame. The player then taps the “Sync” buttonand is presented with a message asking if the player has charged theband or toy and telling the player that he or she may only continue ifthe band or toys are charged.

If the player has energized the physical toys, the player must tap the“continue” button. The player is then presented with a message to tapthe “SYNC Band” button to sync a Nerf™ wristband or to tap the “SyncToy” to sync a Nerf™ toy. The player taps the “Sync Band” button.

The videogame then asks the player to press the “Broadcast button” onthe wristband. The videogame finds the band and starts transferring theenergy in the game. The energy meter increases accordingly. Because theband was full, 100 energy units transfer to the videogame. During theinitial sync, 1000 soft currency units and five hard currency units arealso given to the player, where “soft” and “hard” represent two types ofcurrency.

Once the first energy transfer is complete, a notice appears instructingthe player to sync another device within the next minute to get anenergy combination. If the player wishes to do so, the player taps on“continue”, returns to the sync screen taps on the “Sync Toy” button.The videogame accesses the device camera and asks the player to positionhis device under the camera and press the energy button on the toy. Whenthe player presses the button, the light on the toy flickers to activatethe energy transfer. Next, the energy of the game increases and thelight on the toy goes dark because the toy is “empty”. Because thissecond sync was within 1 minute of the first one, the player is rewardedwith more energy, a certain amount of soft currency and a certain amountof hard currency.

After this sync and transfer, the player's energy meter is full and theplayer may return to the videogame. In this example, if the playertransferred more than a certain amount of energy, the player will gain alevel and he will be at level 2. As a reward for reaching level 2, theplayer gets access to the first battery and a certain number of sparks.

In the third game story, the player has just completed the first syncand energy combination and now has a full energy meter. The playerproceeds back to the videogame by exiting the “Sync” menu and returningto the main menu. At the main menu, the player faces a new gameinterface that appears different. The player's character is now in its“energized” form and the environment has an energized look. In thisenergized state, the player may also purchase special objects in thestore. Once the player taps the “Play” button, the player starts anenergized run. In the “energized” game, the player has access to specialpowers. For example, the player may run on water, use the physical toyas if it had super powers, and break weak obstacles. Additionally, inthe third game story, in-game sparks have a doubled value.

In the fourth game story, the player enters a code within the videogameto get an in game virtual toy.

Energy combinations are also available in described embodiments. When aplayer scans multiple toys/bands within 1 minute of each other, theplayer gets additional energy and sparks and increases the chances ofgetting all-stars. The combination is represented on screen to let theplayer know he made an energy combination. For each combination, theplayer gets bonus sparks and increases his chances of getting anall-star. To avoid too much energy accumulation, the videogame limitsthe rate of energy accumulation through combinations.

In the fifth game story, the player has charged up the physicalwristband and two physical toys and is ready to transfer from thewristband and the toys to the videogame. First, the player taps the“Sync button” and the selects the “Sync Band” button. Next, the playerpresses the “broadcast button” on the wristband. The videogame finds thewristband and transfers the energy from the band to the videogame,increasing the videogame's energy by a known amount. Then, within thenext minute, if the player syncs a charged basketball toy, the playerwill get a further known amount of energy and a known amount of sparks.In the described embodiment, because the player has completed a secondsync of a combination of physical toys, the player will get a knownamount of additional energy and a known amount of additional sparks. Atthis point, the player will have a 15% chance of being rewarded withadditional all-stars.

Encouraged by the rewards for transferring energy from the combinationof the wristband and the basketball, the player may transfer the energyfrom a charged football within one minute for even more energy and moresparks. Because the player transferred from the football within oneminute, and the combination transferred includes three physical toyitems, the rewards are even bigger. For example, the player will getmore than three times the energy and sparks given for a single transferand have a 20% chance to earn an all-star.

In the sixth game story, the player acquires a battery. In this story,the player has created an energy combination that pushes his energy overthe allowed limit of an active videogame. By doing this, the videogametriggers a notice that will teach the player about batteries. The playersees the notice about the surplus units of energy and that the playermust acquire a battery to store the additional units. Otherwise theplayer will lose surplus energy. The notice displays a “Buy battery”button. The player then taps the “Buy battery” button and opens a shopmenu at the batteries section. Because the player has reached level 2,the first battery has been unlocked. The player may tap on the firstbattery buy button and acquire the battery. The player may notice thatother shown batteries have a locked notice on them. If the player tapson the second battery, a notice appears telling the player that thebattery will be available to buy once the player has reached level 4.

While the present inventions have been illustrated by a description ofvarious embodiments and while these embodiments have been set forth inconsiderable detail, it is intended that the scope of the inventions bedefined by the appended claims. It will be appreciated by those skilledin the art that modifications to the foregoing preferred embodiments maybe made in various aspects. It is deemed that the spirit and scope ofthe inventions encompass such variations to be preferred embodiments aswould be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and familiar withthe teachings of the present application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A gaming system for integrated computer-relatedand physical game play interactions comprising: a physical game piececomprising: a motion detector that measures motion quantity; a signalemitter in communication with the motion detector and configured to emitone or more signals wherein each signal relates to a measured motionquantity; and an actuator coupled to the signal emitter and configuredto actuate the signal emitter; and an electronic device comprising: asmart phone or a tablet computer; a receiver configured to receivesignals emitted from the signal emitter; a user input interface; and agame application stored on the smart phone or tablet computercomprising: a score accumulator that tallies one or more game playerscores of one or more respective score types; a first program modulestored on the smart phone or tablet computer with the game applicationresponsive to the user input interface and in communication with thescore accumulator that receives user input and that sends score data ofthe one or more score types to the score accumulator for the scoreaccumulator to tally based on the pattern of user input and the scoretype; and a second program module stored on the smart phone or tabletcomputer with the game application in communication with the receiverthat inputs the signals emitted from the signal emitter and that sendsscore data of the one or more score types to the score accumulator forthe score accumulator to tally based on the pattern of the receivedsignals and the score type.
 2. The gaming system recited in claim 1, thegame application further comprising: the first program module furthercomprising a plurality of sequentially accessible gaming program moduleswherein a game player may accumulate a game score and with respectivelysequential levels of increasing difficulty; and a multiplier programmodule in communication with the first program module and the secondprogram module and the score accumulator that receives score data fromthe first program module and the second program module and multipliesone or more of the difficulty level and the score data by apredetermined multiple based on the quantity and pattern of input fromthe first program module and the second program module; the scoreaccumulator further in communication only with the multiplier programmodule.
 3. The gaming system recited in claim 2 further comprising: thereceiver comprising a camera; and the second program module furtherconfigured to receive a scanned code from the camera and to send apredetermined pattern of input to the multiplier program module.
 4. Thegaming system recited in claim 1 further comprising: the signal emittercomprising one of one or more light-emitting diodes and a transmitterthat transmits non-visible electronic signals; the actuator comprising abutton that a game player presses to actuate; and the receivercomprising a camera.
 5. The gaming system recited in claim 1 wherein theone or more signals emitted by the signal emitter each cover a range ofmeasured motion quantity.
 6. The gaming system recited in claim 1wherein the signal emitter sets the measured motion quantity to zeroupon actuation when the measured motion quantity has reached a definedamount.
 7. The gaming system recited in claim 1 further comprising acurrency redemption program module in communication with the scoreaccumulator and the user input interface that receives input from theuser input interface, that allows the player to make purchases ofvirtual resources and tangible products and that directs the scoreaccumulator to adjust the tallies of the one or more game player scoresof the one or more respective score types based on the pattern of userinput.
 8. The gaming system recited in claim 7 wherein the currencyredemption program module requires the player to make a purchase whenthe one or more of the tallies of the one or more game player scores ofthe one or more respective score types reaches a predefined amount. 9.The gaming system recited in claim 1 further comprising: the electronicdevice further comprising a second signal emitter configured to emitsignals related to measured motion quantity; and a plurality of physicalgame pieces, each physical game piece further comprising a secondreceiver configured to receive signals related to measured motionquantity from other game pieces and from the game application, whereinthe second receiver is in communication with the motion detector andwherein the motion detector further measures motion quantity based onthe signals received in the second receiver.
 10. The gaming systemrecited in claim 1 further comprising: one or both of the first programmodule configured to accept user input defining the physical game pieceused and the second program module configured to accept input definingthe physical game piece used; and a virtual character related to thephysical game piece used as a character in the game application.
 11. Thegaming system recited in claim 10 further comprising the gameapplication configured to use virtual energy to power the virtualcharacter and to use an amount of virtual energy directly related to theamount of accumulated score data of the one or more score types.
 12. Thegaming system recited in claim 1 further comprising a network with anetwork access interface configured to store player account informationon a server and to allow access to the network from the web and fromother smart devices to show the player's game accomplishments and tocompare the player's game accomplishments with game accomplishments ofone or more other players.
 13. A gaming system for integratedcomputer-related and physical game play interactions comprising: aphysical game piece comprising: a motion detector that measures motionquantity; a signal emitter in communication with the motion detector andconfigured to emit one or more signals wherein each signal relates to ameasured motion quantity; and an actuator coupled to the signal emitterand configured to actuate the signal emitter wherein the signal emittersets the measured motion quantity to zero upon actuation when themeasured motion quantity has reached a defined amount; and an electronicdevice comprising: a smart phone or a tablet computer; a receiverconfigured to receive signals emitted from the signal emitter; a userinput interface; and a game application stored on the smart phone ortablet computer comprising: a score accumulator that tallies one or moregame player scores of one or more respective score types; a firstprogram module stored on the smart phone or tablet computer with thegame application responsive to the user input interface and incommunication with the score accumulator that receives user input andthat sends score data of the one or more score types to the scoreaccumulator for the score accumulator to tally based on the pattern ofuser input and the score type comprising a plurality of sequentiallyaccessible gaming program modules wherein a game player may accumulate agame score and with respectively sequential levels of increasingdifficulty; a second program module stored on the smart phone or tabletcomputer with the game application in communication with the receiverthat inputs the signals emitted from the signal emitter and that sendsscore data of the one or more score types to the score accumulator forthe score accumulator to tally based on the pattern of the receivedsignals and the score type; and a multiplier program module stored onthe smart phone or tablet computer with the game application incommunication with the first program module and the second programmodule and the score accumulator that receives score data from the firstprogram module and the second program module and multiplies one or moreof the difficulty level and the score data by a predetermined multiplebased on the quantity and pattern of input from the first program moduleand the second program module; the score accumulator further incommunication only with the multiplier program module.
 14. The gamingsystem recited in claim 13 further comprising: the receiver comprising acamera; and the second program module further configured to receive ascanned code from the camera and to send a predetermined pattern ofinput to the multiplier program module.
 15. The gaming system recited inclaim 13 further comprising: the signal emitter comprising one of one ormore light-emitting diodes and a transmitter that transmits non-visibleelectronic signals wherein the one or more signals emitted by the signalemitter each cover a range of measured motion quantity; the actuatorcomprising a button that a game player presses to actuate; and thereceiver comprising a camera.
 16. The gaming system recited in claim 13further comprising a currency redemption program module in communicationwith the score accumulator and the user input interface that receivesinput from the user input interface, that allows the player to makepurchases of virtual resources and tangible products, that directs thescore accumulator to adjust the tallies of the one or more game playerscores of the one or more respective score types based on the pattern ofuser input, and that requires the player to make a purchase when the oneor more of the tallies of the one or more game player scores of the oneor more respective score types reaches a predefined amount.
 17. Thegaming system recited in claim 13 further comprising: one or both of thefirst program module configured to accept user input defining thephysical game piece used and the second program module configured toaccept input defining the physical game piece used; a virtual characterrelated to the physical game piece used as a character in the gameapplication; and the game application configured to use virtual energyto power the virtual character and to use an amount of virtual energydirectly related to the amount of accumulated score data of the one ormore score types.
 18. The gaming system recited in claim 13 furthercomprising: the electronic device further comprising a second signalemitter configured to emit signals related to measured motion quantity;and a plurality of physical game pieces, each physical game piecefurther comprising a second receiver configured to receive signalsrelated to measured motion quantity from other game pieces and from thegame application, wherein the second receiver is in communication withthe motion detector and wherein the motion detector further measuresmotion quantity based on the signals received in the second receiver.19. The gaming system recited in claim 13 further comprising a networkwith a network access interface configured to store player accountinformation on a server and to allow access to the network from the weband from other smart devices to show the player's game accomplishmentsand to compare the player's game accomplishments with gameaccomplishments of one or more other players.
 20. A gaming method ofintegrated computer-related and physical game play interactionscomprising: providing a physical game piece comprising: measuring motionquantity using a motion detector; emitting one or more signals whereineach signal relates to a measured motion quantity using a signal emitterin communication with the motion detector; and actuating the signalemitter using an actuator coupled to the signal emitter; and providingan electronic device comprising a smart phone or a tablet computer:receiving signals emitted from the signal emitter using a receiver;providing user input using a user input interface; and providing a gameapplication stored on the smart phone or tablet computer comprising:tallying one or more game player scores of one or more respective scoretypes using a score accumulator; providing a first program module storedon the smart phone or tablet computer with the game applicationresponsive to the user input interface and in communication with thescore accumulator that receives user input and that sends score data ofthe one or more score types to the score accumulator for the scoreaccumulator to tally based on the pattern of user input and the scoretype; and providing a second program module stored on the smart phone ortablet computer with the game application in communication with thereceiver that inputs the signals emitted from the signal emitter andthat sends score data of the one or more score types to the scoreaccumulator for the score accumulator to tally based on the pattern ofthe received signals and the score type.